A Psychology Degree Is Used

Know your weight, write it down, tell a friend. As the good dr. says “you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.”

I have a Psychology degree with which I am qualified to do nothing but watch Dr. Phil and pretend to understand on a deeper level than most, what he is saying. So, I bought his book. This is not a testimonial for Dr. Phil, but for a process that began with some of his ideas.

He told me to get real. Step one then for me was to face my fat. I got the scale out again and saw . . . 198. It was a bit better than October, but still obese. In the past, my weight number was a carefully guarded secret, so secret that I would try to forget it once it was revealed to me. My faulty reasoning led me to believe that the number would make me different in my husband’s eyes. Who was I fooling? Everyone knew I was fat, and the number was not going to make me look any fatter, or the denial of the number was not making me look any thinner. I stood in front of the full length mirror completely naked. I surveyed the rolls on my back, and my front. I wiggled my shoulders and watched my body continue to shake well after I had stopped voluntary moving. I grabbed my flabby belly and wiggled it. I looked at my thighs, were those German sausages over stuffed into their transparent casings? I loved bratwurst, but I didn’t like them for legs. I was mesmerized.

Step two was to reveal the number to my husband. I remember where we were; In the kitchen, by my scale. (Yes, I tried the “put the scale by your fridge trick – didn’t work) I told him I was going to tell him the number. My face started to go red before I even told him. Ashamed that I just weighed 5 pounds less than my 6’3” husband I blurted it out. I opened my eyes to see a very loving and supportive man, who would become my partner in my goals. Telling him the number did not change my size.

That day for me was for me was my interpretation of Dr. Phil’s “get real” and “you can’t change what you don’t acknowledge” I started to exercise.